DeMarco Murray turns down Penn State RB coach role: report

Former Oklahoma running back and current Sooners football assistant DeMarco Murray turned down the Penn State running backs coach position, according to Rivals.

Murray had talks with Penn State about the vacancy, but ultimately decided to stay with Oklahoma.

Murray has served in the same role with OU since the 2020 season, making him the second-longest tenured assistant behind offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh.

Penn State is seeking a replacement for Ja’Juan Seider, who accepted the running backs coach role with the Notre Dame program over the weekend.

Murray played for Oklahoma from 2007 to 2010 and ranks seventh in program history with 3,685 rushing yards and is second all-time with 50 touchdowns.

He played seven seasons in the NFL, first with the Dallas Cowboys from 2011-14, then the Philadelphia Eagles in 2015, and finally the Tennessee Titans from 2016-17.

Murray was named a Pro Bowl selection three times during his professional career.

He embarked on his coaching career in 2019 as running backs coach for Arizona before returning to his alma mater, where he has coached since.

Oklahoma has fielded two 1,000-yard rushers during Murray’s tenure, and had two other backs, Rhamondre Stevenson and Eric Gray, who were selected in the NFL Draft.

But the Sooners ranked 11th in the SEC with 155.2 rushing yards per game and were 13th in the conference with 17 rushing touchdowns last season.

Ohio State reportedly pursued Murray as a candidate for its running backs coach position last year, but he elected to stay with the Sooners after receiving a three-year contract offer.

That deal gave him a $225,000 raise, boosting his salary to $800,000.

Penn State was 17th among 134 FBS teams in rushing production last season behind the play of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, two of college football’s premier backs.

Both announced they would return to Penn State for the 2025 season in a major development for the team’s offense coming off the program’s first College Football Playoff appearance.

(Rivals)